Last spring, as the pandemic engulfed New York City, people dealt with shortages of basic goods like toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizer. But a surge in car sales — propelled in part by people leery of public transit — has created a new pandemic-induced shortage: parking spaces.

去年春天新冠肺炎席捲紐約市時，市民必須應付基本物資如衛生紙、紙巾和洗手乳短缺的問題，而由於民眾不放心搭乘公共運輸等原因，汽車銷量卻暴增，也從而出現一種由疫情引發的新形態短缺：缺停車位。

Across New York, drivers complain that free street parking has become increasingly scarce after people who drove away for the summer returned, outdoor dining took over roughly 10,000 parking spaces, and car ownership soared.

紐約各地駕駛人抱怨，由於夏季開車度假的民眾回來了，餐廳戶外用餐區占用約1萬個車位，加上擁車者大增，免費的路邊車位愈來愈難找。

The alternative is often to take up an illegal spot — and risk getting a ticket that can amount to roughly $100 — or use a private garage, which is equally costly. Garage fees in Manhattan can run $400 a month or much more.

解決方法往往是冒著吃下可高達約100美元（約台幣2800元）罰單的風險違停，或是租用私人車位，而後者同樣不便宜。曼哈坦私人車位月租可能要400美元（約台幣1萬1000元），甚至高上許多。

Advocacy groups for mass transit and bicyclists don’t offer much sympathy. They say the pandemic has underscored the need to shift priorities over who has claim to the streetscape.

提倡大眾運輸和自行車的團體並不怎麼同情駕駛人處境。這些團體說，疫情凸顯出有必要更改「誰享有街道空間使用權」的優先順序。

In Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, the number of vehicles registered between August and October jumped 37% compared with the same period the previous year, according to data from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The spike was starkest in Manhattan, where registrations

rose by 76%, and in Brooklyn, where they increased by 45%.

根據紐約州監理廳的資料，紐約市曼哈坦、布魯克林、皇后與布朗克斯區去年8到10月新車掛牌數比前一年同期激增37%，以曼哈坦增幅最高，達76%，其次是布魯克林的45%。

The fight over parking spaces reflects what in recent years has become a contentious debate over how to allocate New York’s 6,000 miles of city streets and its millions of free parking spots in a crowded urban setting where bikers and pedestrians are demanding more space.

車位之爭反映出近年來引起熱議的一個問題，也就是如何在擁擠的紐約市區環境中，自行車騎士和行人爭取更多空間之際，分配總長6000哩（9600公里）的街道和數百萬個免費路邊車位。

That competition has become even more fierce as the pandemic ushered in a re-imagining of the city’s landscape, with restaurant tables occupying pavements and streets closed off entirely to cars on weekends to allow outdoor life to flourish.

這場競爭因疫情重塑紐約市風貌而益形激烈：餐館桌子占用人行道，還有一些街道每周末嚴禁汽車駛入，好讓民眾安心享受戶外生活。

As a result, drivers say parking in residential neighborhoods has become untenable, akin to a high-stakes game of musical chairs in which age-old, unspoken rules of decency have been discarded and a sense of lawlessness has set in.

於是駕駛人表示，在住宅區停車變得很難，就像一場輸贏關係重大的搶椅子遊戲，由來已久、心照不宣的規矩已被摒棄，予人法紀蕩然之感。

“There are going to be wars,” said Anthony Fauci, 53, a Brooklyn resident who uses his car primarily to take his 13-year-old son — and his large bags of gear — to hockey practice in Long Island City, Queens.

53歲的布魯克林居民佛契說：「搶車位搶到像要開戰。」佛契開車主要是為了載送13歲的兒子和他的幾大袋裝備到皇后區長島市練習冰球。

While parking is never easy, in the past few months it has become nearly impossible, stoking tensions among neighbors.

停車位一向就不好找，而這幾個月來更變得幾乎根本找不著，使得鄰居之間關係緊張。

Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5219145

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